Debuff Master

“Cough! cough! cough!”?

There was something strange about Shakiro’s coughing. A lump of dark blood would come out whenever he coughed, and it was quite difficult to say he was fine since the skin on Shakiro’s neck looked dark for some reason.

“Shakiro-nim, I think you should go to the temple—” Siegfried suggested. By temple, he meant the temple of the Goddess of Healing.

However, Shakiro cut him off and waved his hand. “It’s nothing serious. It’s just an illness I’ve had for quite a while now, so you don’t need to be worried about it.”

“But, still… you do not look so good…”

“I know my illness the best, so don’t worry.”

“…”

“I’ll have to tidy myself a bit,” Shakiro said as he gently pushed Siegfried away and retrieved a dark handkerchief to wipe the blood off of his mouth.

“Anyway, you are truly a genius. I’m certain of it,” Shakiro said. 𝗯𝗲𝐝𝐧𝗼𝐯𝗲𝐥.𝗻𝗲𝐭

“I’m not,” Siegfried retorted.

“No, you are a genius.”

“I said, I’m not…”

“Who can be called a genius if you aren’t?”

“Who knows… anyway, I am not a genius.”

“Your humbleness is starting to sound like you’re mocking me right now.”

“No… That is not what I meant…”

“Let’s drop it,” Shakiro said. He stared intently at Siegfried with his blue eyes before adding, “It’s difficult to listen to a genius mocking me.”

“Ah…” Siegfried sighed in resignation.

“Anyway, you saw through my intentions. On top of that, you fully grasped the greatsword and understood how the blade worked.”

“I am not sure if I managed to fully grasp it, but I think I got the hang of it now.”

“That’s right. You have clearly understood the greatsword.”

“Thank you…”

“But that’s just the start. Now, you are to use the greatsword and face all sorts of weapons that exist in this arena. And that is not all; you will have to repeat the same process with another weapon once you get used to the greatsword,” Shakiro explained.

“I agree with you,” Siegfried said. He truly agreed with the Weapon Master’s words.

‘I will have to face all sorts of enemies from now on, so I have to learn how to fight against each and every one of their weapons. This is a blessing, so I should treat it as one and take advantage of this opportunity to study as much as I can about weapons,’?Siegfried thought that it was fine if he delayed leveling up for a bit since he would surely reap even more profits while learning under an overqualified teacher like Shakiro.

“I like how you think. You are not in a rush and are willing to learn,” Shakiro said with a satisfied smile.

“The opportunity to be bestowed such great teachings is rare,” Siegfried replied.

“Not at all; I’m certain that all you had until now were great teachings. Anyone who has reached a certain level would covet teaching you as their disciple, your physique will certainly tempt them,” Shakiro said.

“That was not the case in the past...”

“Hmm?”

“I was trash whom nobody was willing to spare even a glance just a couple of months ago.”

“There’s no way that’s possible,” Shakiro said. He didn’t believe Siegfried’s words.

“Are you telling me that your physique has improved so much in a span of just a few months? That is impossible. You will have to reach the level of a Master first and rearrange your entire body structure to achieve such a physique, and I’m certain that you haven’t gotten anywhere near the Master level yet, right?” Shakiro said.

“There was something like that…”

“I refuse to believe you.”

“I will not try to convince you. I can’t even explain it myself anyway.”

“Well, shall we forget about this debate? Is there anything more important right now than your learning?”

“You are correct,” Siegfried replied with a smile.

***

Since his debut, Weaklingman, who had suddenly appeared like a meteor, crushed the arena with an unbelievable record of 100 wins in 100 fights. Weaklingman was a strange being, and he would always be weaker than his opponents. His fighting pattern would always remain the same: he would always struggle at the start of the match, but he would always grasp a single opportunity to land a big attack against his enemy and emerge victorious.

“Hey, is that bastard really weak? Or is he strong…?”

“Isn’t this match fixing?! Damn this!”

“He won again?”

“I thought he would surely lose this time, but he won again?! AAHHH!”

Thanks to that, the gamblers of the arena were in a state of confusion regarding their future bets. It was all because Weaklingman would always look like he was a candle about to be snuffed out in front of his enemies, and he always seemed weaker than every single one of his enemies.

The fact that he achieved a record of 100 wins in 100 matches drove the gamblers crazy. They could have just bet that Weaklingman would win, but then the uncertainty and the possibility of his sudden defeat were always there, dangling on top of the gamblers’ heads, which drove them even crazier.

Besides his apparent weakness, there was one other thing about Weaklingman that stood out, and that was the fact that he kept changing his weapon. He first started with a greatsword, then a saber, then a shield, gauntlet, sword, rod, scythe, and so on. Weaklingman continued to fight in the arena as if he were Weapon Master Shakiro.

– W-Weaklingman! Weaklingman has reached 500 consecutive victories!

After a month, Weaklingman succeeded in reaching five hundred victories, a historical achievement at the arena in Dondegiri. However, the even more surprising thing was…

“I’m retiring,” Weaklingman said. He disappeared from the arena with those two words after his five-hundredth victory.

The only thing he left behind was the legend of his five hundred consecutive victories in the City of Pleasure’s arena.

***

A forest on the outskirts of the City of Pleasure, Dondegiri…

“To think you would achieve five hundred victories in just a month… Amazing… that is truly an amazing feat, even if it was just at an arena like that one,” Shakiro said while praising Siegfried.

“I just did my best, and it somehow happened. Haha…” Siegfried replied with an awkward laugh while scratching the back of his head.

‘I had no idea time could pass so fast… It was really fun,’?he thought.

Siegfried did not even notice how much time had passed since he had been so immersed in studying how each and every weapon worked. That was how much fun he had been having when it came to analyzing the different types of weapons.

Moreover, his tedious training also gave him a sweet, sweet fruit.

[Blunt Weapon Mastery (Level 10): You deal additional damage when using blunt weapons.]

He discovered his talent for blunt weapons during his training over the month, and he ended up choosing blunt weapons as his main type of weapon without an ounce of hesitation.

It would later turn out that the weapon he had initially chosen without giving it much thought was the weapon he would be using for the rest of his life.

However, that was not the end of it. It was just one of the benefits of Megingjord’s options, but Siegfried also discovered that he was quite skilled with the spear as well. In fact, his spear thrusts were so ferocious even Shakiro himself was surprised by it.

“You are quite good at thrusting. You could become the best spearman on the continent just by mastering thrusting alone,” Shakiro said. He wasn’t stingy with his praise.

[Alert: The magic belt, Megingjord has bestowed upon you a new ability!]

[Alert: Congratulations! You have received a new ability!]

[Alert: You have received ‘Spear Mastery’!]

[Alert: The magic belt, Megingjord has increased your ‘Spear Mastery’ proficiency to 80% of your ‘Blunt Weapon Mastery’ proficiency!]

Siegfried could handle the spear pretty well even without grinding, thanks to the Mythic item.

[New!]

[Spear Mastery (Level 8): You deal additional damage when using a spear. (An additional ability Megingjord has bestowed upon you!)]

Siegfried obtained mastery of two weapons despite only training in one, and this meant that he could now use two versions of his skills, with both blunt weapons and the spear.

“A blunt weapon and a spear. It’s a good combination. It’s a hundred times better than using a sword and a saber at the same time. You might be able to become a true Dual Class if you continue training,” Shakiro said as he congratulated Siegfried.

“I have learned a lot from you even though I am not talented in every single weapon,” Siegfried said.

“There is no need for you to be talented in every single weapon. Honestly… this talent of mine is nothing but a parlor trick.”

“Why are you saying that?”

“You can’t really reach the pinnacle just because you can use every single weapon. The Five Star Heaven would have become the Four Star Heaven, while the Three Jewels would have long become the Four Jewels by now if it were that easy,” Shakiro said.

Shakiro was correct. Unfortunately, he could not make any more progress.

“But the martial path you have been walking is not a waste, Shakiro-nim. The fact that you decided to walk on that path is meaningful enough, and you have reached the Master level, have you not? Honestly speaking, it is not that common for someone to become a Master, right?” Siegfried said.

“You’re right… I guess I’m amazing because I managed to become a Master! Haha!”

“Thank you for your teachings. I might not be able to serve you as my master, but you have truly taught me a lot of invaluable things, and I would like to show my gratitude to you,” Siegfried said with a bow to show his sincere gratitude.

“I’m grateful to you as well. It has been really fun to meet a talent like you in the later stages of my life, and you reminded me of the past, too,” Shakiro said with a smile.

“Reminded you of the past means…?”

“There are only two people who managed to reach five hundred victories in the arena at Dondegiri. Those two people are you and me,” Shakiro explained.

“…!”

“It has been a hundred years, but I can still remember that day as if it happened yesterday. The day when I was just a mere third-rate fighter, yet I reached five hundred victories and retired.”

“Don’t tell me that Shakiro-nim was the legendary fighter—”

“What legend? How strong can someone become when all they did was fight at a low-level arena? I was just a third-rate fighter. You saw the level of the arena yourself, right? That place is nothing more and nothing less than a gambling den.”

“Still…”

“Of course, it’s not as if it was truly meaningless, since I managed to survive till now. Haha!” Shakiro laughed and said, “I remember those days whenever I look at you, and it makes me feel young again.”

“I do not know how to respond to that, haha…”

“I hope that you will continue on your path with the same conviction and passion as you have today. You are a really good junior whom I’m proud of,” Shakiro said.

“Thank you,” Siegfried responded with a bow.

“Then, let’s go.”

“Where?”

“You will find out once you follow me,” Shakiro said as he led Siegfried somewhere.

***

[City of Pleasure, Dondegiri: Abandoned Mine]

Shakiro led Siegfried to an abandoned mine that had been abandoned for hundreds of years.

“Why here of all places…?” Siegfried asked.

“I’m looking for something,” Shakiro replied.

“What are you looking for?”

“A treasure map.”

“Huh? A treasure map…?”

“There’s this object I have been looking for in the past thirty years, and I heard that the map where its location is recorded can be found in this abandoned mine.”

“Aha…”

“I did some research, and it turns out that this place is a dungeon. I could have easily cleared it myself, but I decided to hold back.”

“Why did you hold back?”

“To give you back the time you lost.”

“Huh?”

“Your growth was stunted for the past month because of the training, so isn’t it time for you to kickstart your growth once again?”

“Are you telling me to clear this dungeon?” Siegfried asked.

“That’s impossible,” Shakiro replied with a smirk before continuing, “This dungeon is far too dangerous. You will not be able to clear this dungeon with your strength, and you might even die after clearing just a fifth of it.”

“Then…”

“I will clear it.”

“Heok…!”

“You did well for the past month. This dungeon’s clearance is my gift to you, and the only thing you have to do is to follow me from behind.”

Siegfried immediately understood what Shakiro meant.

Boosting.

Weapon Master Shakiro wanted to boost Siegfried in a high-level dungeon.

‘Wow… I had never imagined that an NPC will boost me of all people…’?Siegfried inwardly muttered, but he was both happy and dumbfounded at the same time.

He had experienced being boosted by a player after paying a certain sum to them for their services, but he had never received a boosting service from an NPC, let alone a voluntary booster at that.

Siegfried was most surprised about the fact that this would be a free boost.

“Let’s go,” Shakiro said as he headed into the abandoned mine.

“Yes!” Siegfried replied and hurriedly followed behind Weapon Master Shakiro.

***

Shakiro had been right to say that Siegfried could only clear a fifth of the dungeon before dying. No, it seemed like clearing even a tenth of the dungeon would still be impossible for him.

That was because…

[Chimera–0154]

[A monster created from a complex mechanism along with the body parts of various monsters.]

[It is a monster created with the sole purpose of killing. An extremely dangerous monster.]

[Level: 150]

[Race: Mixed (Chimera)]

[Rating: Normal]

The normal mob that popped up as soon as they entered the abandoned mine was a Level 150 monster.